Category — a. When to Go to Walt Disney World

Disney has posted some highly unusual operating hours 5/20 through 5/22.  These coincide with the first Star Wars weekend, and also with the opening of the re-imagined Star Tours.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios–where the weekend happens and the ride is located–will be open from 8a-midnight the 20th, 21st, and 22nd.

This is three or four hours longer than the first Star Wars Weekend last year, and makes sense–the new ride is not only an attractor itself, but has been conceptualized to encourage multiple rides by having dozens of different possible experiences.

Mark Goldhaber of MousePlanet.com is reporting here that “some within Walt Disney World management are predicting that May 20 will be the busiest day in the history of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.”

But a couple of things suggest Disney may be expecting much more than multiple Star Tours riders.

First, Fantasmic is rarely shown Fridays and Saturdays, but both the 2oth and 21st not only is it on, but is on for two shows.

In the last six months, Fantasmic has been shown 14% of non-holiday Fridays and 18% of non-holiday Saturdays, and on both the Friday and Saturday of a non-holiday weekend exactly once; on last year’s first Star Wars weekend, it had one show, on Friday.

Second, the Animal Kingdom not only has unusual Saturday morning extra magic hours the 21st, but also has an 8a opening Sunday the 22nd–almost unheard of outside the busiest holiday weeks. As a result, for Disney resort hotel guests, the Animal Kingdom will open at 8a both weekend days.

Finally, the Magic Kingdom opens at 8a the 21st.  Saturday 8a openings are becoming coming at the Magic Kingdom–they’ve been happening many Saturdays since early March–so I don’t let this influence my thinking too much.

If what was going on was just the extra hours at the Studios, and the Magic Kingdom early Saturday, I wouldn’t be thinking big crowds outside of the Studios and especially the Star Tours area.

But adding in the unusual Fantasmics–not added for the Star Wars crew–and the unusual hours at the Animal Kingdom, leads me to suspect that Disney is projecting large crowds resort wide May 20 through May 22.

DISNEY CROWD CALENDAR UPDATE

I’ve updated my Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar to reflect recently-released  November 2011 Disney World operating hours.

You can find the updated crowd calendar here.

A reminder–I always recommend checking another crowd calendar–preferably that at TouringPlans.com–before committing to a specific time to go to Walt Disney World.

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO DISNEY WORLD

This page brings together to one place key links to help decide when you should go to Disney World.

It’s part of a series on navigating this site.

LINKS FOR WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this

For the next best dates, see this

For the best and worst times to visit, see this

• For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For the 2013 Week Picker, click here
• For 2014 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this

For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here

For the 2014 Crowd Calendar, click here

For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this

• For 2013 price seasons, click here
• For projected 2014 price seasons, see this

For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

• High Temperatures Year Round
• Average Rainfall by Arrival Date
• Hurricanes
• Tornadoes
• Chance of Winter High Temperature Over 75
• Pool Days November through February
• Winter Ride Closures

The Tightwad’s Guide to When to Go

The Most Comfortable Time to Go

Frequently Asked Questions

Upcoming Months

• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• January
• February

Seasons of the Year

• Winter
• Spring Break
• Easter
• Summer
• Autumn
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• The Christmas Season
• New Year’s Eve

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OVERVIEW: NOVEMBER 2011 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews November 2011 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours, and ends with week by week summaries.

Early November, with cooling but typically nice weather, low crowds other than the week beginning 11/5 (Jersey Week), and lower prices, has some of the best weeks of the year to visit.

Thanksgiving week is more expensive, and much more crowded.

The last few days of the month are part of one of the three best weeks to visit Walt Disney World.

November also has two special  parties: the last shows of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and the first of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, each a special evening event–with its own ticket–that have become  family traditions for many.

The Candlelight Processional begins the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The 2011 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival continues into November. See this for more. [Read more →]

DISNEY CROWD CALENDAR UPDATE

I’ve updated my Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar to reflect recently-released October 2011 Disney World operating hours.

You can find the updated crowd calendar here.

On a related note, I always recommend checking another crowd calendar–preferably that at TouringPlans.com–before committing to a specific time to go to Walt Disney World.

The folks at TouringPlans.com have recently added forecasts of operating hours going out twelve months.

You can read about this on Henry Work’s blog post here.

OVERVIEW: OCTOBER 2011 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews October 2011 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours, and ends with week by week summaries.

[Read more →]